Gresham High student, 14, pulls child from burning house

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»Play VideoThe young boy who was rescued from a second-story room Tuesday night is prepped to go to the hospital to be checked for smoke inhalation. There were no injuries. (Photo courtesy: Russell Flynn)

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TROUTDALE, Ore. – A 14-year-old boy scampered up a ladder into a burning house Monday night and pulled a young child to safety.

The fire started at about dusk in a two-story home in the 2500 block of Southwest Hewitt.

Eduardo Ugarte and his son, Marcos, who live on the street, heard yelling and screaming. They came outside, saw the flames and ran to help.

While the child's family had made it safely outside, the boy was still in a second-floor bedroom.

Eduardo rushed inside the house to try to save the child but found heavy smoke and a door was locked. He tried pounding on the door but the boy didn't open it. When he came outside, he saw his son, a freshman at Gresham High School, going up a ladder to rescue the child.

"I took the ladder, and I propped it up on the window, and I crawled up the window and punched the screen out and grabbed the 7-year-old boy – about 7, he looked 7 – and grabbed him and carried him down the ladder," said Marcos.

"It's one of those moments that you would hope that your offspring would not buckle and shine, and he certainly did," said Eduardo.

Gresham Fire Battalion Chief Mark Maunder said he can't recall every seeing a 14-year-old spring into action like Marcos did.

"This was a very fast moving incident and for him to be able to keep his composure and break the window out and actually get the child down is just unbelievable," Maunder said. "He did a great job."

The young boy was taken to the hospital to be checked for smoke inhalation but there were no injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The second floor had extensive damage.